Final Fantasy X: What If
by LinkLuver01
Summary: Ever read 1001 Arabian Nights? Similar type of concept I'm going for with this story. Right after FFX's ending, in between FFX and FFX-2. I'm using any ideas to create these stories, they are all short. I can do a variety of genres and conflicts with this story so that is what I am doing. Rating T.
1. Story 0: What's Happening

_Authors Note: Why hello there! For anyone new, I'm Izn... A.K.A. LinkLuver! I need to say that I don't own Final Fantasy X as it belongs to Square Enix. This chapter is right after the ending of FFX. I have had a lot of ideas that wouldn't work in my Final Fantasy X story called Final Fantasy X: The After Years. That is where I decided to make a compilation of my ideas fleshed out. This is just a taste of what I'm aiming for._

 **What's Happening?**

"H-Hello? Anyone... anyone there?" Tidus said standing in blackness. Just a moment ago he had jumped away from all his friends. He had seen all the people he loved who were dead. Was this the afterlife?

"Tidus! Hello there!" Said a small kid who was in fact a fayth... the fayth of Bahumut.

"W-Why are you here? W-What's going on..." Tidus asked, scared out of his mind.

"Nothing much, you were a dream... were. You are more real now... but you were a dream. I have no idea where you are or what is happening... but it appears your current state of being half dead and half a dream is... doing something. I'm sorry, I can't help you, find out how you can get out of here. I know a certain someone who needs you back soon..." The fayth said.

"Y-Yuna! I can see her again? All I need to do is find a way out of here... ok. I got this... whatever it is!" Tidus exclaimed with now an end goal in sight.

"Tidus, I'm fading from this half dead dream... find a way out! You need t-" The fayth vanished before he could finish.

"Alright! Now what..." Tidus talked to himself. He began moving forward and ran into a wall.

"Ow! What the hell..." Tidus felt the wall. something pushed in. Behind him dim lights illuminated the nothingness. He turned around. There were purple swirls coing from the ground... or what was like the ground. Tidus was walking on pure nothingness.

"Well... I guess I'll jump in? Anyone else have any bright ideas?" Tidus spoke to nobody. "Didn't think so..." Tidus jumped into the very first swirl. He fell he felt pain all over his body and saw himself in a hospital... unlike any type of place in Spira.

"Woah! He's awake! This is amazing, ya?" A man with Wakka's voice said. Tidus couldn't see the man with his eyes as they were blurry.

"W-Where... a-am... I?" Tidus wheezed out.

"In Zanarkand's best hospital of course!" The Wakka sounding guy said.

 _"Oh no! Is this where I'm supposed to be?"_ Tidus thought to himself.


	2. Story 1: Dream Zanarkand

_Author's note: These short stories will all be fitting into one chapter... so they might be huge! Or small! Whatever the case it will take a while for each chapter. I also found out how I will schedule my chapters now that I have three stories. I'll work in rotations, that way I won't get bored of my own stories.  
_

 **Story 1**

After a while in the hospital, Tidus started to regain sight. He wasn't too badly injured, just a broken leg and arm. Then a woman entered in the room. It was Lulu!

"Lulu! What's happening? How long was I out?" Tidus asked.

"How would you happen to know my name? Never mind, I'm here to help you in case you've lost memory. Now, what's the last thing you remember?" Lulu asked.

Tidus explained to her what he had done. About jumping away from his friends and then flying past the dead into a place of only darkness. He then told her about him jumping into the swirl.

"... I'm sorry to inform you that none of that happened. The last thing that happened to you was falling off from a high height. Luckily for you, you landed on... the bodies of the injured. They're fine now so don't worry. This is why you only have minimal damage." Lulu said.

"How long was I out?" Tidus said as he sat there in disbelief of what Lulu had told him.

"About 11 days."

Now was when Tidus started to put two and two together. He still didn't believe it! He couldn't! Everything he had felt in Spira was... real! It couldn't be a dream. Lulu and Wakka left the room.

-6 weeks later-

Tidus was in severe pain... mentally. Conflicted between whether or not Spira was real or not. His injuries had finally healed and he was aloud to go home.

"Alright Tidus... calm down. You can make it through this... it's not real, Spira is real. That's why some people here look the same as there." Tidus finally accepted this and continued home... but not without his fans getting in the way.

"Can't I just get home!" Tidus hopelessly yelled into a crowd of noise. Tidus felt a tap on his shoes. It was Rikku! She ran off and jumped into a man hole. He signaled him to come in. He did just that, sealing it as he entered. There was brother, Cid, and Rikku there.

"Sorry for bombing the stadium!" Rikku suddenly said.

"Hey! Didn't I teach you manners?" Cid said. "My name is Cid. This one here is Rikku. And this one is Brother."

"Yeah, I know..." Tidus said.

"Know? How could you know us? No one knows who we are!" Cid said.

"Sorry, not enough time to explain, is there a way home from here?" Tidus asked.

"Yep! Just go straight for about a mile and head up into the one marked 112." Rikku said.

"Thanks!" Tidus continued alone... until Rikku caught up to him.

"Hey! Don't I know you from somewhere?" Rikku asked.

"I'm, a famous Blitzballer." Tidus said.

"No, I know that but I mean somewhere else?" Rikku persisted.

"Maybe in another reality..." Tidus finally said. To change the subject, Tidus said, "So why did you bomb the stadium?"

"Pyrefly abuse! It's wrong! You can't be forcing pyreflies to hold up the stadium! Most of them don't want too! Everyone thinks that if we don't force the pyreflies, they can't enjoy Blitzball but that's wrong to! Plenty of pyreflies would love hold up the stadium!" Rikku said so fast, Tidus could barely understand.

"Do pyreflies have feelings? That doesn't make much sense." Tidus said.

"Well... they might, we know so little about them. But those flies were once people, don't you think it's a little wrong?" Rikku said.

"I guess. Sorry this is my stop. See you." Tidus climbed up and Rikku returned to Brother and Cid.

Tidus now alone at last looked out to Zanarkand. He couldn't stay here... death would be better! Then as he entered his home, he noticed someone walking along the street next to his house.

"Y-Yuna!" Tidus exclaimed.

Yuna, who of course did not know Tidus personally, looked confused.

"Y-Yes? Your Tidus, right? Of the Zanarkand Abes." Yuna said.

Tidus hearing this realized that even Yuna did not know him. He could only hold back tears and ran into his home. What Tidus called his home or house was in fact just the top floor of a gigantic hotel. However he went higher. He stood on the rooftop. He was nearly in the clouds. He looked out to the sunset, stepped onto the ledge, and thought.

"If this is real... do I want to live here?" he said aloud. He pulled out his sword and was about to... inflict pain on himself when he realized, "WAIT! WHAT THE HELL! I HAVE MY SWORD! MY BROTHERHOOD SWORD!" He screamed this so loudly people on the ground could barely make him out. "Hahaha! Spira _is_ real! Holy shit that would have been a bad idea! Wow... so... what now?" Tidus pondered. He didn't know how to get out of what he believed to be a false reality. He talked to himself some more, reminiscing all he had been through from Spira all the way up to this moment. Suddenly, 2 men came through the door that opened to the rooftop.

"Stop! Mr. Tidus! You have lost your mind! You must return to the hospital." The men said.

"No... no you don't understand! Just leave me be! F-Fayth!? Can you not somehow help!" Tidus said desperately. He knew he would be marked as a crazy person and had little chance of finding out how to get back to Spira. He jumped, aiming for another rooftop. Not even close. He fell down to the ground, his ears popping. Suddenly time froze.

"Tidus... is this a good time?" The voice of the Fayth said.

"WHAT! YOU CAN TALK TO ME!" Tidus yelled.

"Well... for a bit. Close your mouth and open your ears. I'm not really here, I'm just sending a kind of message... that I can talk to you through. You, while in this other reality, have three major things you can do. One, create objects from nothing... though it takes great mental strength and you won't be able to use it all the time... so if you do use it, be careful. Two control time. You can resume time, reverse time, or stop it... like you're doing now. When you stop time, I can talk to you... but only for a bit. And three, fix reality. This may not be real for you, but it is real for everyone in this reality. If you fix a reality, you can return to the room with the spirals and hopefully find a way back to Spira! My time is up, good luck!"

"WAIT! I have questions! How do you know this? How can I fix a reality?" Tidus yelled to no answer. "Well then... I can control time huh?" Tidus focused on the time turning back. His body moved in reverse. Everything he had done was rewinding. "Woah..." As Tidus fell in reverse, He finally came to the point of when he jumped off. He resumed time.

"Woah! That was awes-" Tidus got tackled off the ledge onto the rooftop by one of the men. "Ow... what the hell..." Tidus re winded again. This time he re winded before he exited the sewers.

"tle wrong?" Rikku said.

"Holy hell this is the coolest thing ever!" Tidus suddenly said.

"W-What is? Aren't you gonna go up?" Rikku asked.

"Hehe... it's nothing... see you!" Tidus said happily. Tidus went up the manhole and went to a plaza.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S TIDUS!" A fan yelled.

"Uh-oh..." Tidus started to run but then he stopped. "You know what... why not!" Tidus said grabbing a pen from a fan who had caught up to him. He started signing things until his hand started to hurt. Now, only one fan left... it was Yuna.

"Hey, could you sign this ball?" Yuna asked.

"S-Sure, Yuna!" Tidus said.

"Wait... how do you know my name?"

"Oh I uh... just... do. Hey uh, you aren't in a relationship in this reali- I mean right now, are you?"

"N-No?" Yuna said freaked out.

"Perfect." Tidus re winded time to before he started conversation with Yuna.

"Hey, could you sign this ball?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah, sure... and what's your name?" Tidus asked with a smile on his face.

"My name is Yuna." She said.

Tidus signed the blitzball and then asked, "Hey, are you free tomorrow?"

"N-No, tomorrow is Sunday."

"Wanna... um hit the coffee shop?" Tidus asked. Suddenly time stopped.

"Really?" the Fayth's voice echoed. "Did I not say to be careful?"

"You also said that you would only be able to come in a time of need." Tidus argued.

"Good point... just don't forget your goal." The fayth reminded. Time resumed.

"W-What! ReallY!? Like a... date? With the famous Blitzballer Tidus?" Yuna said shocked.

"Yeah... and just call me Tidus. No need to call me famous Blitzer or anything. So is that a yes?" Tidus asked.

"Y-Yes! What time?"

"How 'bout 7. I'll pick you up."

"S-Sounds g-good!" Yuna said awkwardly.

"Well... uh see you tomorrow." Tidus sad.

"See you." Yuna responded, dazed.

 _"All right. What could I possibly 'fix.' I need to find a newspaper."_ Tidus thought. He went to the nearest building. It happened to be a pub. He noticed a drunken man with a newspaper.

"Excuse me sir? Could I borrow that newspaper?" Tidus asked.

"What? Who are you? Your gonna give me all your stuff before I give you this newspaper." The man said.

"A-Auron! What happened to you? Oh, yeah, the alternate reality thing... weird." Tidus said. He had an idea on how to get the newspaper. "You know what, I don't want the newspaper... I have... this better... paper." Tidus held up the back of a paper menu.

"What do you want for it?" Auron said.

"Holy hell you're really drunk! Alright, I'll take that newspap-" Tidus began. Auron threw it at him and

snatched up the menu. "... thanks?" Tidus walked out of the pub and sat on a bench.

The main article on the newspaper said: _Blitzball Stadium Reconstruction Nearly Completed! The rebuilding was scheduled to finish 2 months after the initial attacks. It is slightly ahead schedule and by tomorrow, it should be done tomorrow. They said they would try to get a survivor of the attack to cut the ribbon. Why the attacks were done? 'Pyrefly abuse.' This raises the question, do pyreflies have feelings? We don't think so, however it should be noted that pyreflies historically have just been attracted to the stadium. Recently, they're were more leaving than coming and so this lead to the National Blitzball Association (NBA) to artificially attract these flies. Whether or not pyreflies have a will, this attack luckily didn't kill anyone but there were hundreds of casualties. There have been a total of ten out of the hospital, including Zanarkand Abes star, Tidus. Pg. 4 for more on Blitzball._

"Could that be the problem? Huh… I have an idea!" Tidus said. He pulled out the piece of paper with Yuna's address written on it. "I'll need some help…"

Tidus put the address back in his pocket. First, he headed towards the hospital. He avoided fans by heading underground.

"Hey, it's you again!" A wandering Rikku said.

"Woah! Do you ever leave here?" Tidus said being caught off guard.

"Where are you heading?" Rikku asked.

"Listen, I'm trying to do something, can I just get there in peace?" Tidus said.

"Can I come?" Rikku further asked.

Tidus sighed. "Fine, I needed some extra help anyway."

"Oh! Extra help… KIMAHRI!" Rikku yelled. The ronso came at once. "Hey, We're gonna go and do… 'something.' Wanna come with?" Kimahri nodded his had.

"Hey, who said you could invite people… but you know what, it works." Tidus admitted.

They were about to head to the hospital but Tidus remembered something.

"Wait here for a second, I'll be right back." He said.

"Getting a drink?" Rikku asked Tidus.

"Me? No. Just need to bring someone along." Tidus explained.

Tidus went into the pub and noticed a slightly more sober Auron… actually… not at all more sober.

"Hey Auro-" Tidus began.

Auron interrupted with a "That's _SIR_ Auron to you."

"Uh… okay then. Hey I'm going to do something cool… and I saw it fitting that you came along with us… I'll buy you a whiskey if you come." Tidus bargained.

"Deal!" Auron agreed.

After Tidus traded his signature for a whiskey, him and Auron went back down. Tidus explained to Rikku and Kimahri that Auron would come along with them. They finally reached the hospital. Tidus once again went up alone. He went and found Wakka.

"Hey, Wakka? So… listen, could you do me a favor? Can you come along with me and a couple other friends to do… something?" Tidus asked.

"I barely know you... but I do want to get out of this place, ya? Alright, I'll come with you." Wakka responded.

Tidus and Wakka went and found Lulu.

"Hey, wanna do something? Please?" Tidus said vaguely.

"I suppose there's nothing better to do." Lulu said.

"That's what I said!" Wakka acknowledged,

Tidus went underground again and now he had Wakka, Lulu, Rikku, Kimahri, Auron, and himself. It was starting to feel like good old times again.

"Just one more person!" Tidus exclaimed.

"Why us?" Lulu asked.

"I have my reasons." Tidus replied.

"Tell us or we won't come with you!" Rikku demanded.

"Fine... but you won't ever believe this." Tidus said. He explained everything that had happened up till then.

"So that's why... yeah, you're crazy. But we'll still help, ya?" Wakka said.

Everyone agreed. The group all went up. Tidus found Yuna's house. It was run down. She lived in a bad part of Zanarkand which made Tidus feel a bit bad for her. Tidus waled up to the door and knocked.

"Oh... your e-early!" Yuna said surprised.

"Change of plans. Come with us to help me with something?" Tidus requested.

"Yes of course!" Yuna said.

"Just like old times." Tidus said with a single tear welling up in the corner of his eyes.

"Old times?" Yuna wondered aloud.

"I-It's nothing! Let's go... oh wait I forgot... the opening is... tomorrow not today. So uh... we wait." Tidus said recomposing himself.

"Really? You've got to be kidding... where do we stay." Lulu said.

"We can stay at my house and depart in the morning." Yuna suggested to which the group agreed.

In the morning, Tidus finally reveals his master plans.

"Okay everyone! This will be simple. Alright, I'll change places with the survivor of the attack. Yuna, you hide the body and Lulu, you make sure he has no memory of what happened." Tidus explained. "Next, once I'm done cutting the ribbon, before they fill the stadium, Wakka and Kimahri will create a distraction, clearing the way for Auron to steal the pyrefly attracting device. Then, Rikku will disarm it. And when all is done, we hopefully will have the stadium being naturally held with pyreflies instead of the artificial manipulation of them. Sound good? Good, let's go!"

They depart and the initiate the plan. "Team A, your up!" Tidus said. Yuna walks up to a man.

"Hello there!" Yuna says as she knocks him out with a stick. She and Lulu move the body into a hidden doorway.

"Perfect! Alright Team, I'm going in!" Tidus had put on a fancy suit and everything. He walked up to a guard. "Hello, I'm the survivor of the Blitzball attack." The guard let Tidus through. He signaled for Team B to get in position. About 20 minutes later, when Tidus is about to cut the ribbon for the grand reopening, there were screams heard on the left whiles some destruction was happening on the right. Tens of police and guards went to see what was happening.

"TEAM C GO!" Tidus yelled. In the confusion, few people heard him. Auron ran past Tidus to the stadium and took his huge katana to slice off the device. He brought it to Rikku who started to disarm it. Once she had done so, the world stopped, it was different than a time stop. All of Tidus's friends could move as well.

"What is happening?" Auron asked.

"Hey! Thanks bud!" Said another Tidus.

"I'm not even going to ask..." Our Tidus said.

"Thanks for restoring my reality. I'll make sure all of you guys return safely to your homes. I'll be taking back my place as the Tidus of this reality. You on the other hand," the other Tidus said now looking at our Tidus, "can go through that spiral. Who knows where you'll end up! Good luck!"

"Great! Hey... see you later guys! Thanks for your help too!" Our Tidus said with a return of goodbyes from everyone. Tidus jumped into the spiral."

* * *

 _This stuff took me foreeeeeever! It was fun though! It may be a while for the next one. The next thing I'm working on is the next chapter for the Pokemon fanfiction I'm writing. If you're at all interested, check it out! If you are to leave a review, please make it constructive so I know what to do better.  
_


	3. Story 2: 17 AEC

_Author's Note: I know not many people are reading this but I don't care ;). Tidus is an awesome main character, idc if he whiney af. It's getting harder and harder to find time to write, but with spring break coming up, it might get easier. My basement was flooded the other day so I couldn't play any Final Fantasy during the weekend ;(. Anyways:_

* * *

Story 2: 17 AEC

Tidus was back in the dark room with purple spirals. The one he came out of turned gold.

"Alright! Some answers?" Tidus yelled to seemingly no one.

"What do you want?" The voice of the fayth said.

"Three things, why am I still here? Why were there two of me? And why can you only talk to me for a limited amount of time?" Tidus quickly asked.

There was a sigh from the fayth. "I thought you'd get it by now. I'll answer in order of your questions. You're here because you need to correct these realities. The only way to get back to your own broken reality is by fixing others. Next answer, there were two of you because once you do what you need to, you are ready to leave. Before you came, whoever got his or her place taken by you returns. The reality you just entered was close to your reality so that's why you took the place of the other Tidus. Please, just don't get attached to a reality or anyone in the reality, remember that you are not in your own reality. And finally, why I can only talk to you for a limited time is-" the fayth's voice evaporated.

"Well... that's just perfect!" Tidus sarcastically remarked. "All this reality fixing crap is really getting on my nerves! And why would I get attached to a reality? Fine, next spiral." Tidus jumped into the nearest spiral and he awoke in yet another dark environment... but this time it was in a bed.

"Where is this?" Tidus said aloud.

"Tidus go back to sleep, you'll wake the kids." A half asleep Yuna next to him said.

"WOAH! WHAT!" Tidus yelled.

"Tidus! What's wrong with you!" Yuna said now yelling back.

"Wha- but I- uh-" Tidus stuttered.

"Why don't you go take a calm down walk?" Yuna suggested before falling back asleep.

Tidus decided to do just that. He put some clothes on and ran out of an unfamiliar house. It was pitch black outside. He was seemingly on Besaid Island... but different. There were street lanterns and roads. There were Chocobo parking spots and many small houses. He walked down to the beach and found a kid about 10 years old playing Blitzball. He was practicing... no it couldn't be! He was doing the Jecht shot! He wore a necklace much like Tidus' own.

"Hey, kid? What are you doing up?" Tidus asked.

"S-Sorry dad!" He stammered.

"D-Dad? Wait a second!" Tidus put two and two together. "Oh... wow. Man, this Tidus must be so lucky! I wonder what the problem could be?" Tidus took a good look at the kid. He had Yuna's hair type and color, along with two blue eyes like Tidus.

"Why are you talking to yourself? Hey, Sophie, I think dad's going insane!" The kid said to someone in the shadows.

"Why'd you blow my cover like that? What the hell Tidus?" The person apparently named Sophie said. She seemed to be about 15. She had blonde hair like Tidus but heterochromia like Yuna.

"Dad, Sophie swore at me again!" The kid said. Seeing as how Sophie said 'What the hell Tidus,' Tidus assumed that the Kid must share a name with his father.

"This... this is too weird! Out of all the realities, it had to be one teasing me of what couldn't happen. I blame you fayth." Tidus said looking up.

"Yep, he's lost it." Sophie said. "Let's get back home before dad regains his sanity."

Tidus stood on the beach for an hour or so... until sunrise. Then the fayth's voice came. The water froze.

"Sorry... you had to come here of all realities." The fayth said.

"This couldn't ever happen... could it?" Tidus said sadly.

"Well... it could actually! Haha, you reminded me my friend!" The fayth said.

"Don't call me your friend..."

"Don't be like that! I'm sorry about everything that's happened. But I forgot to tell you, not all realities are not yours. There are future and past ones too. So this could be your future!"

Tidus now had hope in his eyes. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, see you soon! Er... hear you later I mean."

Time resumed. Tidus traveled back to the house with Yuna in it. When Tidus saw her, he noticed that she did look older. Perhaps this could really be Tidus's future.

"Tidus! You're back. Took you long enough. The kids said you had gone crazy." Yuna said. "Hey, you look younger. What's up with that."

"I-uh, well you see, I am Tidus but I'm not _your_ Tidus. You see I'm from a different reality... or time." Tidus said.

"Wow, you guys were right! Dad is going crazy!" Yet another child said. This one didn't look much like Yuna or Tidus. He had jet black hair and brown green eyes. He seemed maybe 13.

"Damn! How many kids did you and your Tidus have?" Tidus said as he heard a baby begin to cry.

"Tidus, I'm going to call the doctor now." Yuna said as she reached for a weird plastic... banana shaped thing. It had spheres at the top and bottom tips. Whatever it was, obviously the direct approach wouldn't work as well in this reality. Tidus re winded time.

"er. What's up with that." Yuna said.

"I uh just ate some... fruit." Tidus made up.

"Right..." Yuna looked at Tidus funny.

"Hey, random question, what year is it?" Tidus asked.

"17 AEC... how come you don't know?" Yuna asked back.

"AEC?" Tidus said, ignoring Yuna's question.

"After the Eternal Calm... did you hit your head?"

"Um... yeah." Tidus lied.

"Oh no! It doesn't seem too bad but this is serious, we should see the doctor."

"NO... I mean I, uh, already saw the doctor. He said I'd be fine."

After Tidus caught up with what happened in this reality by consulting with the children, he found out many things. First, this couldn't be his future because he never disappeared. Everything was similar but he and Yuna, after beating Sin married and had 5 kids... yes 5! First a girl named Sophie who was now 15. Then, a boy, age 13, named Cid... presumably after Yuna's Al Bhed uncle by the same name. Next another boy who was 10 named Tidus Jr. Finally, two twins, a boy and girl who had just been born two days prior and were nameless. Tidus wanted to get out of this reality but at the same time, he wouldn't mind being stuck in it. He remembered the fayth telling him not to get attached and so he focused on his goal. He walked over to Yuna and asked, "Are there any life threatening problems? Or any problems that would cause some people to get mad. Or really any big issue recently?"

"What? No, not really... just check the newspaper, there isn't anything in it." Yuna said, annoyed.

Tidus sighed. He would have to search for a problem. "So, I'm going on a trip..."

"What for? Blitzball season doesn't start for another 2 months." Yuna asked.

"Well, they called me for camps." Tidus made up. Yuna believed Tidus and so Tidus set off. _"Okay, where would something horrible be... what could possibly be a problem in a perfect reality!"_ Tidus thought. He walked to where Wakka's home was. In its place there was a decently sized house. He wondered how Wakka was doing but he wanted to get out of this reality. "That's it! I'll head for Luca!" Tidus said aloud.

"What's in Luca?" Rikku said out of nowhere.

"AH! Rikku, you scared me there! Why are you here?" Tidus wondered.

"I... live here." Rikku said.

"Oh..." Tidus looked at Rikku. She was wearing minimal clothing but looked much older. She had really matured... physically that is.

"So, what are you doing in Luca?" Rikku once more asked.

Tidus was about to make up something... but, he never was really good at keeping things sealed up. Anyway, if she told anyone or tried to call a hospital, Tidus could just rewind time. "I'm from a different reality... and I'm here to fix a problem. It has to be a major thing, any idea? Also, don't tell anyone. If you want proof, look at me. I'm 17, that wouldn't make much sense right now, now would it?"

"Hahaha!" Rikku laughed... then she looked at Tidus and noticed he really was much younger looking. He had a serious face on too. "Wait... your serious!? YOU'RE FROM ANOTHER REALITY!"

"Thanks for yelling it out... yeah, I'm really from a different reality. You believe me?" Tidus said.

"It would make sense... you seem different. So where is our Tidus?" Rikku continued to question.

"Wow, are all Rikkus the same? So many questions... I'm stuck here fixing other people's realities until I find my own... or something like that. So I'm taking your Tidus's place up until I find out what to fix." Tidus told her.

"Be glad you told me! I feeling I know what you need to do. Outside of Besaid, Spira is... doing not so well. Yuna stopped doing concerts to bring people together about 10 years ago. And you... er our Tidus is a pretty good Blitzball player still. It's just that he won't give up the sport to help raise his kids." Rikku said sadly.

"Really... man, he must not know what he has... that kind of makes me pissed. I'd give up Blitzball forever if I got to see Yuna, _my_ Yuna again. Sorry, but I can't help with your Tidus's problems, why is Spira not doing well?"

"It's been 17 years since Sin was defeated... and we still don't have a working government. Everyone is doing there own things. We have most people fighting in to groups. It's about 45% for each side. The other 10% are independent. There have been many battles and its been close to war several times."

"So... I have to make... a working form of government... are you kidding!? Wait... is that hard?"

"If it was easy, we wouldn't have a problem now would we?"

"I'm serious, what if we just had everyone vote for whatever they need to do." Tidus suggested.

"Too many people, not all will take it seriously. Not all are smart enough." Rikku rejected.

"Listen, why not elect someone?" Tidus suggested.

"Not everyone wants that because the issues are out of there hands." Rikku countered.

"There's a reason against everything, isn't there? We need one person, or a group of people who lead. But who could have that effect of... of unity? Someone to unite everyone... anyone you know. There's always a leader for every group. Not everyone will agree... so who would be someone most can agree on? Someone strong willed, a voice for the people, a citizen of Spira, someone with a lot of connections, and someone who everyone generally loves. I'm waiting for you to give me a name." Tidus said.

"Yunie! That sounds like the person you're looking for!" Rikku said.

"Oh... yeah I guess you said she was famous at one point. And she brought people together. We could make an election where she would run and win. People would be happy and I could get a step closer to home!"

"She wouldn't want the attention though... especially with our Tidus not helping his kids, Yunie has had to take care of all her kids while he was away. She couldn't handle that."

"Your Tidus makes me sick! Listen, I'm going to need to convince Yuna that I'm from another reality. That way we can tell her to straighten that other Tidus out! Last time I tried to convince her she called the hospital. I had to rewind time to untell her." This got a look from Rikku but she though it would be best not to ask. "Give him a punch from me please! He's so lucky he can have kids and a life where he can do what he wants! He never had to leave and disappear and..." Tidus remembered the pain of disappearing without telling Yuna why. She had jumped through him as he disappeared. He couldn't forget the sadness in her face.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you had to go through all that!" Rikku said. Tidus forgot about her for a second.

"No, its my bad for bringing it up. We need to convince Yuna somehow. We need to push her to become a leader for Spira."

"All right, I'll help. Hope this works." Rikku said. They walked up into the house.

"Yunie! What's up." Rikku hugged Yuna.

"What are you doing here?" Yuna asked.

"Well, Tidus here, he's not the from this reality." Rikku said with a straight face.

"Rikku, I knew you were crazy." Yuna said.

"I am! She's speaking the truth!" Tidus said.

"That's simply not possible. Tidus, of my 17 years with you, when have been able to pull a fast one on me?" Yuna reasoned.

"Bringing me to my next point! I am 17! Oh, and for my nearly 24 hours of knowing you, I've been able to make up about 3 stories that you believed." Tidus said.

"B-But, how can that be! Sorry, I can't believe it!" Yuna said.

"Fine, let me tell you something. In my world, me and my Yuna met after I was pulled out of a Dream Zanarkand. It was dreamed up by tons of fayth and I was just a dream. Once I came into contact with Sin, I became more than a dream. I didn't know until later. I traveled around with my Yuna and we... fell in love. But when the time came for the fayth to wake... I had to... stop existing all together. I couldn't tell her that. And I waited too long. Now I'm stuck here until I fix realities. Once I do that I can see Yuna again... my Yuna. Your Tidus, no offense, sounds like a jerk. He can't quit Blitzball for you? I couldn't play Blitzball if I had kids. I'd quit right there and then. All just to see Yuna. I don't care if you don't believe me. I need you to become a leader for Spira. Unite it. This will solve my problem and Spira's too. If all goes as planned, I'll be gone to solve more problems. And your Tidus needs to quit Blitzball. He's got 5 kids he needs to look after." Tidus explained.

"Yunie, please!" Rikku begged.

Though Yuna didn't fully believe Tidus, she had hope he was right. "Fine... but if I'm stuck leading Spira and no one raises my kids... I don't know what I'll do!"

"You won't regret it!" Tidus said.

They went to Luca and spread the word that Yuna would be willing to lead Spira. This immediately hit the headlines the next day. In a matter of a week, most people wanted Yuna as their leader. Finally, the people voted and Yuna would be accepted as the leader of Spira. Tidus began to disappear.

"Thanks a lot! You guys have a good life!" Tidus yelled. He then saw other Tidus. "You know your an ungrateful shi-" Tidus began but the other Tidus cut him off.

"I know... I-I know now I have to quit Blitzball... I'm sorry for the trouble. Good luck back home." The other Tidus said.

This made Tidus smile. He arrived at the black room once more. He watched as the spiral turned gold. "On second thought, I liked that one..."

* * *

 _Next story I'm definitely putting Tidus in FF7... I think that would be cool. I'm a firm believer that FFX and FFVII are in the same world. See you later!_


	4. Story 3-1: AVALANCHE and Shinra

_Author's Note: Well... I'm doing this out of order. I mean, I skipped writing in my other FFX story. If any of you care, that is because I'm near ending it! Man... I suck at endings! Hey but whatever, this is a cool chapter... I hope. I am a firm believer that Spira is an ancient Gaia (FF7's world). I have a whole theory with tons legit and logical reasons on how it could have happened, referring to the changes in Spira to Gaia. Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

Story 3-1: AVALANCHE and Shinra

"I wish I could see that reality now... it has got to be going great for them now! Man, fixing realities makes me feel good." Tidus said.

"Yeah, I'm sure it does. Time to push on." The fayth's voice spoke.

"Wait, hold on... what's the deal? What's new. What don't I know? What haven't you told me?" Tidus questioned.

"Nothing! Well, actually let me think... ah yes, you were right!" The fayth said.

"I had a feeling," Tidus explained.

"Yes, it is quite simple," the fayth began, "as you complete more and more spirals, you'll acquire more control over your power. It may have been that you could conjure a single, small something back in the Zanarkand reality, you now could conjure... I don't something bigger. And you would have more time to talk with me or pause time for longer. Things like that."

"Cool... hey one more question. Can I still use magic? Like I could in Spira?" Tidus asked.

"I'm not sure. Try it when you have the chance." The fayth finished.

Tidus noted this and finally jumped into the spiral.

Tidus awoke in yet another darkness. He was lying down so he was getting up when he was pushed back down.

"Not yet. Just a few more moments." Said a spike-headed, short, and blonde man. He was laying down next to a huge sword that was easily bigger than himself.

"What are we waiting for exactly?" Tidus asked.

"Wait a second… who are you? I don't remember… whatever, Barret doesn't tell me anything. Just shut up." The man said.

"Wow, you're nice!" Tidus remarked. After a short two minutes, Tidus heard men outside groaning in pain. The man Tidus was laying next to jumped off and did an admittedly cool looking pose. Tidus couldn't quite recognize what was a strange thing he was on. It had wheels and was pretty long. There were multiple sections. Whatever it was, Tidus jumped off but tripped as he landed, causing the blonde man to face palm.

"Who the hell are you?" A huge, black man with a gun hand said.

"Uh, hi! My name's Tidus… uh, any idea what's happening?" Tidus said.

"Your kidding? Can you fight, we could use the help if all we got here is Cloud." The gun hand man said.

"What's that supposed to mean, Barret? You're the one who hired me, aren't you?" The short man, presumably Cloud, said to the man appearing to be Barret.

"Shut up and let's move. Tidus, I'm asking once, can you fight?" Barret said.

"Yeah!" Tidus responded and pulled out his sword.

"What is up with the swords? Get a gun, people!" Barret said.

"Enough, let's get this over with, I want my money," Cloud said.

They started to move. Tidus didn't know where he was going but, he didn't know much so he simply proceeded until he gathered enough information to solve the problem.

Barret ran ahead while Cloud stopped Tidus midway.

"Who are you really?" He asked.

"I already said, I'm Tidus! And I have a few questions actually. Let's start simple, what was that we just got off of?" Tidus said. Cloud simply stared at Tidus with disbelief.

Finally, Cloud said, "A. Train."

Cloud decided to just keep walking when he realized Tidus didn't know what a train was. Suddenly a couple armed soldiers came by.

"Stop!" They said.

"Ha, this will be easy. Watch this-" Tidus said but before he could showcase his moves, he got shot at. "Hey! I wasn't done tal-" once more the enemy shot at Tidus."STOP SHOOTING ME!" One of the soldiers just shrugged and smacked Tidus in the face with a gun.

Cloud had had enough. He took his giant sword and slashed one of the soldiers who fell to the ground.

"Psh, I can do that!" Tidus took his own sword and dittoed what Cloud had done. "See that! Huh?" Cloud had already started walking away, not caring about Tidus's grand achievement. Tidus followed him up to a gate.

"What the hell took you two so long!" Barrett said.

"The blondey over here slowed me down," Tidus said.

"Okay, one, _you_ slowed _me_ down, and 2, you're blonde too." Cloud pointed out.

"Oh yeah… anyways, what's the rush?" Tidus asked.

"What's the ru- are you kidding! Biggs go ahead and explain." Barret demanded.

"Y-Yes, sir! We are here to bomb the Mako reactor!" Biggs said.

"Oh. Mako reactor?" Tidus said confusedly.

This, of course, was answered by no one as they headed into the supposed Mako reactor. They went down into the reactor in a silence Tidus couldn't stand. Finally, Barret broke the silence with, "Well, go ahead and plant the bomb Cloud." Barrett said.

"Yah alri-" Cloud began before clutching his head.

"Hey, you alright?" Tidus said.

"It's nothing…" Cloud said as he began planting the bomb. Tidus looked at Barrett who simply shook his head.

"Heads up!" Barret yelled.

A giant scorpion robot came from nowhere.

"Woah, what is that!" Tidus exclaimed.

"Just another enemy. Attack it!" Cloud said.

Barret used his gun arm to shoot it. It didn't seem to do much. "Dammit!" Barret said.

"I got an idea!" Cloud announced. He Put his sword behind him and summoned a bolt of lightning. This seemed to work much better on the robot. "You guys distract it while I attack with Bolt."

"Haha, you think your the only one who can do that?" Tidus said. 'Thunder!" A similar bolt of lightning struck the robot. This seemed to work just as effectively. The robot reacted by scanning all three of them and firing its guns at them.

Cloud, seemingly wanting to one up Tidus yelled, "Braver!" He jumped high into the air and with a powerful strike down, the robot was heavily damaged.

"I can do better!" Tidus claimed. "Spiral Cut!" He did some flips and sliced the robot to do an equal amount of damage.

The robot's tail went above his head. Barret fired away at it and the robot and it counterattacked. "Argh! What the hell is it hitting me so hard for! You two are doing all the damage!" Barret now enraged yelled, "Big Shot!" and fired a huge energy... thing! The robot blew up.

"Hey, nice job!" Tidus said.

"I could've done it alone... but whatever." Cloud criticized. He clicked the start timer button on the bomb. "Alright, countdown begins now-"

"I'M NOT EXPLODING TODAY!" Tidus said as he ran out before Cloud could tell him that they had 10 minutes.

Cloud looked at Barrett. "Why did you let him tag along?"

"I was gonna ask you the same," Barrett replied.

Tidus escaped in about 45 seconds, his athleticism on full display. About 9 minutes later, Barrett and Cloud walked out. Tidus watched as Barrett checked his watch realizing he had 10 seconds left, They started to run. Someone fell and Cloud helped them up as they narrowly escaped the explosion.

"See, we're fine," Cloud said calmly.

"Damn, you're a fast one," Barrett said to Tidus, ignoring Cloud.

"Yeah, well I'm pretty awesome at Blitzball so…" Tidus noticed everyone confused. "You know, Blitzball! The biggest sport in all of Spira! With goals and a blitzball, you kick into the goals which are all underwater. That Blitzball."

"So… underwater soccer?" A confused Cloud said.

"Soccer?" Tidus said, returning the confusion.

"Son, are you from a different planet or something… and what the hell is Spira?"

This confirmed Tidus's suspicion. He wasn't in Spira at all. He decided to pause time.

"So, realities can be completely out there? Like this one doesn't link to Spira at all!" Tidus said.

"I don't think so... maybe it's just so heavily altered it is unrecognizable. And it seems a bit advanced so maybe it is a far future... Nah, it couldn't be a far future... well maybe..." The fayth continued wondering back and forth aloud.

"So, you can pause time?" Cloud said.

"YOUR NOT FROZEN!?" Tidus yelled. "But h-how! I paused time, you shouldn't be able to not be frozen! Fayth, what is going on!"

"I... have... no... clue. But whoever this Cloud guy is, he seems important. I'm going to leave now." The fayth said as his voice softened out of existence.

"You can pause time... and you were talking about different realities... so you really aren't from this world are you?" Cloud said.

"Y-yeah. So I guess we're stuck with each other until I solve the problem in this reality." Tidus said.

"I guess so... once you solve the problem, you're gone? Alright, then unpause time and let's solve this 'problem.'" Cloud suggested.

Tidus did just that and they continued as if nothing had happened.

"Anyways, we meet at the meeting place, got it?" Barret said as everyone left.

"The meeting place... that would be where?" Tidus asked Cloud, the one person left.

"Just follow me," Cloud ordered. They headed up the stairs. Once they were outside, they noticed people panicking. One ran into a girl, who fell. She was holding flowers in a basket. She walked up to Cloud.

"Excuse me, what happened?" the flower girl asked.

"Well, you se-" Tidus started.

"Nothing... hey..." Cloud interrupted, "Don't see many flowers around here."

"Oh, these?" She started, "Do you like them? They're only one gil."

Cloud paid up one gil. Tidus, not having any gil, couldn't buy any.

"Oh, thank you!" The flower girl said. "Here you are!" She gave Cloud the flower and walked away.

"Didn't know you were a flower guy," Tidus remarked. Cloud just ignored him as the continued. They reached a street when suddenly,

"Hey, you two!" A couple soldiers yelled. They started to draw their weapons. Cloud drew his own and cut them down.

"Stay alerted, Shinra definitely sent more than just two troops," Cloud said. As he said this, two more troops came in. "Run!"

They ran but they ran into three more troops. Instead of fighting, Tidus and Cloud ran once more but three more troops blocked their exit. They were surrounded and heavily outnumbered.

"That's as far as you two go." A soldier stated.

"I don't have time to mess around with you guys!" Cloud said. He whispered to Tidus "Jump when I do."

"Enough babbling... grab them!" The same soldier yelled.

Cloud turned around and jumped with Tidus following.

In the train, Barret and the others were waiting on the train.

"Cloud... he never came." Wedge said.

"Cloud... think he was killed?" Wondered Biggs.

"No way!" Barret said, rejecting the thought.

"Cloud..." Jessie said.

"Say, do you think Cloud's... going to stay on and fight for AVALANCHE!?" Biggs asked.

"How the hell would I know!?" Barret yelled. "Do I look like some kind of mind reader? Hmph! If ya'll weren't a bunch of screw ups..."

Wedge picked up the courage to ask, "Hey Barret, what about our money?" Barret responded by punching a nearby box. "Uh, nothin'... sorry."

They sat in silence when they heard a thump. Thump, thump, and thump. Cloud jumped into the train with a flip. Tidus followed doing his own flip.

"Cloud!" They all exclaimed.

"And Tidus..." Tidus reminded.

"Looks like I'm a little late," Cloud said with a smirk.

"Damn right your late!" Barret said. "Come waltzin' in here, making a big scene."

"I'm here too you know!" Tidus yelled.

"Oh... Tidus. When did you get here?" Barret asked.

"Never mind," Tidus said.

"It's no big scene, it's just what I always do," Cloud said.

Barret swore at Cloud. "Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself."

"Hmm... you were worried about me?"

"Wha!? That's comin' outta your share hotshot!" Barret walked to the front of the train compartment. "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!"

"Hey Cloud," Wedge started, "You were great back there!"

"Heh heh... we'll do even better next time," Biggs said.

"Careful, I'll shut this," Jessie said as she closed the compartment door. "Oh, Cloud! Your face is pitch black..." She wiped the dirt off his face. "There you go! Say, Thanks for helping me out back at the reactor!"

After the rest had left, Tidus said, "So do you get all the women that do so much as look at you?"

"Yeah, basically," Cloud answered.

"You got anyone you love?" Tidus asked.

"Well... it's a bit complicated. What about you."

"Yeah, I do... that's why I'm here right now, fixing realities and what not. It's all to get back to her. Her name's Yuna by the way... in case you were wondering."

They exited the compartment to enter the next one. Over the intercom, the conductor said, "Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23 AM, Midgar Standard Time."

Everyone in the compartment who wasn't AVALANCHE ran out as soon as they saw Barret, one person murmuring, "This is why I hate the last train. Hoo-boy..." as he left.

Tidus noticed Cloud going off to speak to Jessie. Tidus decided to just go to sleep. He was pretty tired and it was pretty late. Once the train stopped. Cloud woke Tidus up and led him out of the train.

"Yo!" Barret exclaimed, "Get over here, all'ya! This mission was a success. But don't get lazy now! The hard part's still to come. Don't ya'll be scared of that explosion... Tidus. Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back to the hideout. Move out!"

They head out to a bar. Barret went inside and shot a couple bullets in the air to scare everyone out.

"I can't go in there! I'm not old enough to drink yet!" Tidus said.

"You're serious? Here, I'll give you a hint. Don't. Drink. Simple right? Now let's go." Cloud said bluntly.

They walked up until Barret stopped them. "Heh heh... You want to meet your little baby?"

"Little baby?" Cloud said.

"Hey, don't act like you don't know what I mean! I'm telling you... alright go ahead." Barret said.

Before Tidus entered, he turned around and asked, "Hey Barret... since I helped you out, do I get paid?" Seeing the anger on Barret's face, Tidus took it as a no.

"Papa!" A young girl said. She realized it wasn't her papa who had entered and she went and turned her back in a corner.

A woman with long legs and huge... uh... boobs... walked up to the little girl and said, "Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" No response. The long legged woman walked up to Cloud with the little girl hiding behind her. "Welcome home Cloud. Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?"

"Yeah... a bit," Cloud answered.

"I should have known," The women started, "He's always pushing people around and you've always been in fights ever since you were little... I was worried."

"Hey Tifa," Cloud said changing the subject, check these out." Cloud pulled out the flower he bought.

"Flowers," Tifa started, "How nice... you almost never see them here in the slums. But... a flower for me? You shouldn't have... Thank you, Cloud. It smells wonderful. Maybe I should fill the stores with flowers. So who's your friend?"

"Oh yeah. This is Tidus. Tidus, this is Tifa," Cloud introduced.

"Hey, nice to meet you! You help out AVALANCHE?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah actually," Tidus replied.

"Thanks... we could use all the help we can get." Tifa finished.

Barret then entered the bar.

"Papa, welcome home!" the little girl said.

"Wait wha-" Tidus said.

"Don't ask," Cloud said, stopping Tidus.

"You all right Barret?" Tifa asked.

"Great!" Barret answered with slight sarcasm in his voice. "Get in here fools! We're starting the meetin'!" He ran to a strange machine. It led down to the meeting area.

"Sit down," Tifa said, "Want something to drink?"

"Give me something hard," Cloud replied.

"You want anything, Tidus?" Tifa asked.

"Nah, I can't drink," Tidus answered.

"You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely," Tifa said, giving Cloud a drink.

"What's with you all of a sudden? That wasn't even a tough job?" Cloud said.

"I guess not... you were in SOLDIER after all... make sure you get your pay from Barret." Tifa finished.

"Don't worry, once I get the money, I'm outta here," Cloud said. "Hey, Tidus, you just hang out and play some pinball or something. I'll be back real soon. Then we can figure out what to do."

"Pin...ball?" Tidus wondered.

Cloud sighed, "Tifa, can you show him how to play, his memory is a bit foggy from the explosion. He hit his head." Cloud went down to the secret room. When Cloud entered, Barret had a question.

"Yo Cloud, I have something to ask you... was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

"None, I'm positive," Cloud answered.

"You sound pretty sure." Barret noticed.

"If there was anyone from SOLDIER, you wouldn't be standing here now."

"Don't go thinkin' you so bad jus' cuz you was in SOLDIER." Barret, now angry, tried to go at Cloud but Biggs held him back until Barret flung him and Biggs hit the wall. "Yeah, you're strong. Probably all them guys from SOLDIER are but don't forget that your skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra now."

"Stayin' with Shinra? You asked a question and I answered it... that's all." Cloud walked up to Barret's face and said, "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

-Meanwhile-

"So what you want to do is insert 10 gil," Tifa said.

"I'm all out of gil!" Tidus informed her.

"Well that's fine, here, use this." Tifa gave Tidus the gil.

"Thanks... what next." He asked after inserting the gil in.

"See these balls loaded up. You pull back this trigger and you try to rack up as many points as possible. You use these switches to move those things on the board. Try it"

"Alright." After a moment, Tidus had reached a high score.

"Damn, your pretty good at this."

Suddenly there was a bang and there was yelling.

"-but don't forget that your skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra now." Barret said from downstairs.

"Stayin' with Shinra? You asked a question and I answered it... that's all." Cloud walked up to Barret's face and said, "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money." Cloud said.

"Let's head downstairs..." Tifa suggested.

Once they had reached the room, Cloud was just leaving.

"Wait, Cloud-" Tifa started.

Barret interjected with, "Tifa let him go. Looks like he still misses Shinra"

"Shut up! I don't care about neither Shinra nor SOLDIER!" Cloud claimed. He started walking closer to the exit and said, "But don't get me wrong, I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter." Cloud stormed upstairs and Tifa followed.

Tidus stayed behind to maybe help the situation. "So what's with you two?"

"Nothin'. I am not talkin' 'bout least likely to you." Barret said.

"But hey, you said he still liked Shinra or something, right? I'm not sure I know what that is but he's saying he doesn't. In fact, even if he leaves... AVALANCHE, was it? If he leaves that, he isn't going back to Shinra or SOLDIER, he said he would help me." Tidus reasoned.

"You don't get it, do you? Shinra is our enemy! They are stealing energy from the Planet!"

"So how much better are you than Shinra if you don't keep your promises and you steal money that you were supposed to give to Cloud?"

Barret thought for a moment. He finally said, "Fine, you win." He climbed upstairs. Tidus just used the pinball machine.

"Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!" Barret told Cloud. "A promise is a promise, here!"

"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh." Cloud said.

"What, then you'll..." Tifa said.

"You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000." Cloud offered.

Barret took a deep breather. And then he exploded with anger. "WHAT?!"

"It's OK, it's OK," Tifa said, trying to calm Barret. Tifa whispered to Barret, "Psst, we're really hurting for help, right? And anyways, Tidus will follow Cloud we get two in one."

Barret whispered back, "Ug... ugh... that money's for Marlene's schoolin'..." Barret turned to Cloud. In a normal voice, he said, "2000!"

Cloud agreed. Tifa said, "Thanks, Cloud."

-A bit later-

"Hey so," Tidus said, "Can someone explain to me something. What is SOLDIER?"

Cloud answered. "All right, Shinra is a corporation. They make energy plants that supply Midgar with electricity. But the way they go about getting the energy is by sucking Mako out of the Planet. This makes the Planet die. That's what AVALANCHE is trying to stop. SOLDIER is part of Shinra. They fight for them and they are exceptionally well-trained soldiers. Hey, shouldn't you know some of this? You can apparently use Materia as well as anyone, back at the reactor to beat that robot, so you seem to have some understanding."

"I'm not sure what you mean... I didn't use this 'Materia' you're talking about. I just used regular old magic, you know?" Tidus explained.

"Wait, you can use magic without Materia!?" Cloud said.

"Uh... yes... is that a bad thing?" Tidus wondered.

"Now that is impressive!" Cloud admitted. "About this 'problem' we need to find, I think it could be the Planet dying. Let's get you back to Yuna."

-The Next Morning-

Tidus was sprawled on the table in the bar. Cloud had just come up from downstairs. Barret and Tifa were waiting.

Tifa said, "Good morning, Cloud! Did you sleep well?"

"Next to you, who wouldn't?" Cloud said.

Tifa blushed just a bit. "I don't know what you mean." Perhaps to change the subject, Tifa said, "I'm going this time."

"... Is anyone going to wake up Tidus?" Cloud asked.

"We were about to head out to Sector 5 but Tifa thought it would be a great idea to give Tidus a drink. He's out, just like that, lyin' there." Barret explained.

"Damn... alright, tell me more about the mission on the train, I'll stick with Tidus," Cloud suggested.

"Alright... but Cloud, I have a question to ask ya, I don't really know how to use Materia. Can you show me?" Barret asked.

-One Explanation Later-

"The #$$ is this? You just handle the Materia Cloud!" Barret said.

"Cloud, I got a message from the Weapon Shop man upstairs. He has something he wants to give you, don't forget." Tifa said. "Marlene, you watch the store while we're gone!"

Marlene replied by saying, "All right! Good luck."

"Huh what, did someone say my name?" Tidus said, suddenly awaking.

"Perfect timing, let's go," Tifa said.

Once they had set and reached the train, the team was waiting. Barret said, "YO! This ain't no private car! So split up!"

A man who had been there yesterday as well muttered, "Hoodlums again. God don't I just have all the luck?" He sat down but Barret walked up to him.

"You say somethin'?" Barret asked. The man just shivered in fear. "I said, 'you say somethin'!? Now, look at that! It got empty alluva sudden. What's going on?"

The man yelled in fear, "DAMN! It's empty because of g-guys like you..." Barret punched right next to him. "Y-Y-Y-YIPES! You... you've seen in the news right. AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like this."

"You work for Shinra!" Barret looked about ready to knock the guy out.

"I will not give into violence... and I'm not giving you my seat either!" The man tried to be strong.

"Barret!" Tifa interjected.

"&$#%! You lucky ^$%^$.!" Barret swore.

"So what do we do know?" Cloud wondered.

" #$%! Why are you so calm! Your bustin' up my rhythm!" Barret said.

The train jerked and Tifa said, "Looks like they've connected the cars. We're finally leaving."

Cloud asked, "So what's our next target?"

"Heh, listen to Mr. Serious-About-His-Work!" Barret mocked. "Alright... I'll tell ya! Jessie's probably already told you, but there's a security checkpoint at the top plate. It's an ID scan system, checkin' all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa added.

"We can't use our fake ID's anymore..." Barret said

Suddenly the intercom said, "Good morning, and welcome to Midgar lines. Arrival time at Sector 4 is 11:45."

"That means we only have 3 more minutes until the ID checkpoint," Tifa said.

"All right, that means in three minutes, we're jumpin' off this train. Got it!?" Barret asked.

Barret went and sat down while Tifa called Cloud to show him something.

Tidus walked and sat down next to Barret. Tidus said, "Hey... so what's up?"

"Oh, I dunno... just bombin' a damn reactor! Nothin' too big!" Barret said sarcastically. "You ever been to Sector 5?"

"Nope, never been in Midgar before," Tidus admitted.

"Wait a second, that reminds me. How come you don't know about anything?" Barret questioned.

Tidus was about to explain but then a type A security alert went off.

"What's happening?" said Tifa.

Barret had a similar question. "What's goin' on?"

"We're in trouble," Jessie realized, "I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!"

Barret looked at Tidus. " #$%! Someone blew it!" The intercom told them that car one would be locking down. Barret said, "Let's go, keep it up!"

The rest went by in a flash. They moved to the front and Tidus, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret jumped out of the train.

"That... was pretty awesome! I think I like trains!" Tidus said. "How's your plan looking, Barret?"

"Good, so far everything is going as planned," Barret replied. "Don't let your guard down 'till we get to the Sector 5 Reactor. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie got everything ready for us, so MOVE it. The reactor's just down this tunnel."

They walked down the tunnel as Barret said to but there were strange bars of light.

"Those light beams are Shinra's security sensors. We can't go any further." Cloud said.

Cloud walked over to the side of the tunnel. He looked down at a hole and then looked at Barret. Barret said, "That's one damn tiny hole! You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the plate? No way! Yo Cloud, what are we going to do?"

Despite this, Cloud decided to go down the hole anyways, everyone following. Once down there, they noticed it was also a tunnel. They walked forward and then down a couple cases of ladders. Eventually, they find Wedge who was standing next to the ladder up to the reactor.

"Finally, we're almost there!" Tidus said. "My feet are killing me..."

"Stop complaining and just keep quiet. We don't want to alert anyone now that we are so close to the reactor." Cloud said. They just had to go through a few more hallways and then they could repeat what they did to the last reactor. Finally, they reached Biggs station where he was waiting for the group to enter the reactor. The party went all the way down to plant the bomb.

Cloud was just walking, mere meters away from where they would plant the bomb when he suddenly clutched his head... just like before.

"Cloud? Cloud!" Tifa yelled as Cloud fell on the floor. He stood up a moment later.

"Man, get a hold of yourself!" Barret said.

"Yeah, what's going on with you? That's the second time this has happened." Tidus added.

"Are you alright?" Tifa ask.

Cloud was about to say something but then he decided against it and just said, "Forget it... let's just do this."

"How much time till this one blows up?" Tidus asked once Cloud had set the bomb.

"Plenty, don't worry about it," Barret said.

They came down to the reactor in a different way they would be going back up. They used the elevator and they reached a panel.

"Jessie told me that we have to push all three buttons at once," Cloud said. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret do this while Tidus watched. Once they had pressed all three buttons, the wall outside revealed another path for them to follow. Now they were nearly reached a fork in the path and barret said,

They reached a fork in the path. Barret said, "This way!" As he went left, Shinra soldiers popped out in that very direction. "Shinra soldiers!? $#%&! What's goin' on!?"

"...A trap..." Cloud realized.

"Oh boy..." Tidus said.

Then, from the way the party came from, a man in a red suit was walking towards them. "Pres... President Shinra?" Barret said with fear in his voice.

"Why is the President here?" Tifa wondered aloud.

"Hey... what's a president?" Tidus asked. No one, however, was in the mood to answer.

The President spoke. "Hmm... so you all must be... what was it?"

"AVALANCHE, and don't ya forget! SO your President Shinra, huh?" Barret said.

"Long time no see... sir," Cloud said walking up to him.

"Long time no see... oh... you. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to Mako from the look in you eyes... Tell me, traitor, what was your name?" The President asked.

Cloud answered, "Cloud."

"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember everyone's name... that is... unless you became another Sephiroth. Aah, Sephiroth, he was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant." The president said.

"Sephiroth?" Cloud looked startled.

"Don't give a damn 'bout none of that!" Barret interjected, "This place is goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves ya'll right!"

The president had a sly look on his face, "And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you..."

"VERMIN!?" Barret yelled, "That's all you can say? VERMIN!? Shinra're the VERMIN for killing the Planet! Guess that'd make you King VERMIN! So sh'up jackass."

"Yeah Barret," Tidus cheered (unintentionally using his Cheer skill to raise the part's defense and attack), "Who does this fat 'President' think he is anyway?"

"... You are beginning to bore me." The president ignored the previous remarks. "I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me... I have a dinner I must attend."

Barret wasn't finished, however. "Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

The president responded with, "But, I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

Tifa heard something and said, "What's that noise?!"

Barret ran over to her and said, "The hell is that!?"

The president smiled. "Meet 'Airbuster', a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him. I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

"... Techno-soldier?" Cloud said with either a hint of jealousy or anger.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me..." President Shinra said as a helicopter rose.

"Wait, president!" Cloud called but the president had left.

"Yo, Cloud! We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!" Barret said.

The Airbuster moved to Tifa and Barret. They were on one side and Cloud and Tidus were on the other.

"Help, Cloud!" Tifa said. "THIS is from SOLDIER?"

"No way, it's just a machine!" Cloud replied.

"I don't care what it is! I'm gonna bust him up!" Barret said.

"This thing is done for!" Tidus added.

"Hastaga!" Tidus said. Everyone gained speed which would make the battle much easier.

"Woah... whatever that was, it'll help!" Cloud said as he slashed at the robot's back. The robot turned around and attacked Cloud. Then used a bomb to hit Tidus.

"Hey! Don't forget about us! Bolt!" Tifa said as she shocked the robot. As it turned to attack Tifa, Barret shot at it. The robot attacked both of them and then used explosives on them as well.

"Thunder!" Tidus said, once more shocking the robot. Before it could turn to counter-attack, Tifa yelled,

"Beat Rush!" and with a flurry of punches, the robot seemed on his last leg... or hover thing...

"Big Shot!" Barret said and with a bang, the Airbuster started glowing blue and then exploded! Tidus jumped to the other side before the explosion while Tifa and Barret were unharmed. Cloud, however, was hanging on for his life due to the crater the robot created.

"It's gonna blow! Tifa, Tidus, let's go!" Barret said.

"Barret! Tidus! Can't you two do anything?" Tifa desperately hoped.

"I can-" Before Tidus finished, time paused... but it was different this time, it was not by Tidus.

"Tidus, not this time, you can't reverse time. You can't change reality this much... I sense that if you save Cloud, something big will change... so big, you'll fail and won't be able to get home." The fayth said.

"But... I can't just..." Tidus started.

"Don't worry about me, Tidus... just go! And tell Tifa... that I love her..."

Tidus tried to reverse time anyway but somehow, Cloud stopped him. Time resumed.

"Not a damn thing!" Barret said.

"Cloud!" Tifa and Tidus both yelled.

Tifa continued talking. "Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"

"I know, Tifa..." Cloud said with sadness in his voice.

"Hey, you gonna be alright?" Barret asked.

"... You worry about yourselves! I'm all right, but take care of Tifa" Cloud said as his grip started to loosen.

"... Alright. Sorry 'bout all this."

"Stop talkin' like this is the end!" Cloud said as he took his other hand and found something to grip.

"Ok, hold on!" Barret advised.

"Don't' forget, Tidus!" Cloud said and Tidus nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, the explosives set down in the core of the reactor went off. Cloud lost his grip and fell. Tifa reached out for him but Barret pulled her away from falling. Still, Tifa resisted as all three watched Cloud fall to his doom.

Tidus was speechless. Tifa was holding back tears. But Barret, being the leader of AVALANCHE was thinking ahead. Barret said, "Come on... let's... get out of here. We gotta get back to the bar."

"Bu-but... alright... you're... right." Tifa struggled to say. They headed back to the bar.

"Where's Cloud?" Biggs asked after they had gotten back. Tifa was behind the bar, drinking to get it off her mind.

Barret was the one to answer, "Cloud is... he fell down to his death."

"WHAT! NO!" Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge yelled out in unison.

"We can't let it affect us! Come on! Snap out of it!" Barret ordered.

"Hm... so you one of the AVALANCHE members died, huh?" A strange man said.

"What the!? Who are you!" Barret yelled.

"N-No one, I know nothing!" The man said.

"Everyone, get outta here and come back in 'bout five minutes," Barret said.

-5 minutes later-

"So?" Jessie said.

"Something about Sector 7 and that some of Don Corneo's assistants were sent to find out about AVALANCHE. I've got a plan but we need someone to go to Don Corneo's mansion. We were heading to Sector 7 today anyways."

"I'll go," Tifa said.

"Tifa, you should stay away from that lech! You sure?" Barret asked. Tifa nodded. Barret told his plan, "Alright. Me, Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs go to sector 7 and we will await information from Tidus. Tifa, you will have a transmitter so Tidus will know where and what is happening. I know a place where you'll be able to see inside the mansion from. Here take these binocular's. We only got short distance transmitters so Tidus, use this phone to call us when you hear what's goin' on. All you have to do, Tifa, is go to Don Corneo and one of the women he chooses every day. The beat the info outta him.

"WAIT!" Tidus stopped Barret. "What's a phone?"

After explaining to Tidus what a phone was and how to use it, Tifa dressed up and asked to be picked up to go to Don Corneo's Mansion. Tidus went with her and said that he was just there until they reached the Mansion. They rode in a Chocobo carriage. " Along the way, Tidus and Tifa heard someone.

"Tifa!?" Said Cloud who was sitting in the park with none other than the flower girl.

"C-CLOUD!" Tidus yelled though it seemed as though Cloud did not hear. "Stop this choco-"

"Tidus, we can't," Tifa said. "I'm just as, if not more excited than you but... this attack Shinra is planning could be horrible. We'll find Cloud again, don't worry!"

"You're right..." Tidus acknowledged.

Tifa entered the mansion once they had reached and Tidus pretended to leave. He climbed a rooftop and opened up his binoculars. They were specially designed see-through-walls binoculars and Tidus spotted Tifa. He looked around until he noticed someone

"Is that the flower girl that Cloud was with? And who's that next to her." Tidus was about to see but his phone buzzed.

It was a text from Barret reading, _Stay focused. Remember to call as soon as you hear anything from Corneo._

By the time Tidus looked back, the flower girl and her friend were gone. Tidus focused back in on Tifa. She talked through the transmitter and said, "I'm in. Just waiting for the other two people that Corneo is going to choose from."

About 20 minutes had passed and Tidus was beginning to get bored. He was about to put down his binoculars when he noticed that the flower girl was back. She was wearing different clothes... could she be going to Corneo's Mansion!? Tidus looked at the flower girl's friend. She seemed familiar to Tidus somehow... but he couldn't figure out why. He watched as the two walked in. They talked to the person at the front desk and then they went into the basement. That's where Tifa was so Tidus could listen to what they said. The familiar looking girl saw Tifa and then went to a different corner. She must have been nervous. The flower girl said, "... Tifa? Nice to meet you. I'm Aerith. Cloud's told me a lot about you." At this Tidus smiled. Cloud must be close by. Maybe Tidus could find Cloud outside the mansion. First things first, Tidus had to keep watching Tifa.

Tifa responded to Aerith. She sounded a bit jealous. "... And you are? Hey, you're the one with Cloud in the park..."

"Right, with Cloud," Aerith confirmed.

"Oh..." Tifa sounded surprised. A bit sad maybe.

"Don't worry," Aerith assured, we just met, it's nothing."

"What do you mean, 'Don't worry'... about what?" Tifa questioned. "No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together. Nothing more."

"Huh..." Tidus said aloud. "Then why... nevermind." Tidus focused back on the scene.

"Aerith spoke. "Poor Cloud, having to stand here and listen to both of us call him nothing. Right, Cloud?"

"Cloud?" Tifa said. Tidus looked around the room. No one except Aerith, Tifa, and that one other lady. Tidus focused in on the other lady. She moved to Tifa who did a similar examination.

Tifa jumped up in the air and said, "Cloud!?" Tidus nearly dropped his binoculars. "Why are you dressed like that!?" Tifa continued, "And what are you doing here!?"

Tidus took a moment to process everything thing. Then he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, a couple people looked up at him. He straightened himself and went back to watching.

Tifa was still talking, "Never mind, what happened to you after the fall!? Are you hurt!?"

"Slow down, let me answer. I'm dressed like this because there was no other way to get in here. I'm all right Aerith helped me out."

Tidus suppressed his laughter.

"Oh, Aerith did..." Tifa said.

"Tifa, explain what you're doing in a place like this?" Cloud said.

"Yeah, um..." Tifa started.

"Ahem! I'll just plug my ears." Aerith said.

"I'm glad you're okay," Tifa said.

"Thanks. What happened?" Cloud asked.

"When we got back from the Sector 5 reactor, we saw a weird man. Barret caught him and squeezed som information out of him." Tifa explained.

"That's when the Don's name popped up." Cloud realized.

"Right, Don Corneo. Barret told me to leave the lech alone... but something's been bothering me." Tifa said.I see. So you wanted the story

I see. So you wanted the story straight from Corneo's mouth," Cloud said.

"Well, I made it here, but now I'm stuck. Corneo is looking for a bride. Every day, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then... well... Anyway, I have to be the... girl for tonight."

"Sorry, but I overheard..." Aerith said. "If you know the three girls, there's no problem, right?"

"I guess so but..." Tifa started.

"We have two here, right?" Aerith pointed out.

"No, Aerith, I can't involve you," Cloud objected.

"Oh, so it's all right for Tifa to be in danger?" Aerith said.

"No, I don't want Tifa in-" Cloud started but then, Tifa walked to Aerith.

"Is it all right?" Tifa asked.

"I grew up in the slums... I'm used to danger." Aerith explained. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, thanks, Ms. Aerith," Tifa said.

Aerith smiled and said, "Just call me Aerith.

"He-y," A man said who was at the top of the stairs. "It's time ladies. The Don is waiting!" Then he muttered. "I told you not to wander around, I tell ya, women, nowadays..." Then with another change of voice, this time louder, he said, "Hurry up, will ya!"

"I guess I don't need to ask, but the other girl is... me... right?" Cloud asked.

Tifa started with, "You're right, you didn't need..."

And Aerith finished with, "...To ask."

Tidus quieted down from his laughter. He needed to in order to stay hidden. People were starting to look up to where he was. He refocused his binoculars and watched as the girls went up the stairs.

They went inside a door. Through there were two men and Don Corneo himself.

The man right of Corneo said, "All right, ladies! Line up in front of the Don!"

Finally, Corneo spoke himself. He jumped on his table and looked down on Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, "Hmmm! Good, splendid!" He jumped off the table and started the inspection. "Now, let's see... which girl should I choose?" He first looked at Aerith. "Hmm-hmm-!"

Next, he looked at Cloud but Cloud turned his head so that Corneo couldn't see him. "This one?"

Finally, he walked over to Tifa and said, "Or this one?"

He walked backed to Cloud and tried to look him in the face. Cloud still turned his head. Left-Right-Left-Right-Left. Corneo announced, "Woo-hoo, I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is, the healthy looking girl." He pointed at Cloud.

"Wa, wait a sec!" Cloud said surprised. He realized he was supposed to be a girl and said in a higher pitched voice, "I mean, uh, please wait a moment!"

Corneo yelled in delight, "Woo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard-to-get! Yeowza!" He looked to the other men. "You can have the rest."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir!" They said.

"Shall we go, my pretty?" Corneo asked.

Tidus was ready to enter the scene. He was tired of not doing anything... though watching Cloud was hilarious, he wanted to see this up close. Tidus snuck through a window. Corneo's men were gone.

"Hehe... thanks, Barret, for teaching me how to use a phone to record videos!" Tidus said softly. He thought about helping out Tifa or Aerith but they could handle it. He flipped the phone on and started to record. He slid open the door a tiny bit, just enough to see what was happening.

"Ahh, we're finally alone..." Don said, "All right, pussycat... Come to daddy!" Cloud reluctantly did so. Corneo continued. "You're so cute, I never get tired of looking at you. Do you... like me, too?"

Cloud hesitated... then he spoke. "Ummm..."

"You don't like me?" the Don said. "There... there isn't someone else, is there?"

"Yes, his name is Barret..." Cloud said.

Tidus used his hand to shut his mouth.

"No way!" Don exclaimed. "Hmm? Barret? That sounds familiar..."

"You know, he's one of those you were trying to find out about. You know, AVALANCHE...?" Cloud unsubtly said.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. In Sector 7, in the slums... and how do YOU know that!?" Don questioned.

Tidus couldn't hold it in, he couldn't stop himself from laughing. He fell over and pushed the door open.

"HAHAHA! Oh too funny! Ah... hey Cloud... I got that on tape." Tidus admitted.

"WHAT!" Cloud spun around and threw off his dress to reveal his regular clothes."Tidus, you piece of-"

"A man!? You tricked me!" Corneo yelled. "Somebody get in here NOW!"

Cloud, ignoring Corneo said, "Tidus, you piece of-"

Before Cloud finished, Tifa and Aerith appeared. "Unfortunately, no one'll be comin' to help," Tifa said, referring to Corneo's earlier remark.

"You're the ones from before! Wh... what the hell's going on?" The confused Don said.

"Shut up, we're asking the questions now... What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us..."

"... I'll chop it off." Cloud finished. Tidus was hoping Cloud meant Corneo.

"No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" Corneo promised.

"So... talk," Tifa urged.

"... I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do."

"By whom?" Tifa asked.

"No-! If I told you that, I'd be killed!" He reasoned.

"Talk! If you don't tell us..." Tifa repeated.

"... I'll rip it off." Aerith said.

Tidus looked at the innocent looking flower girl. She just smiled.

"Waaaaaaaaaaah-! It was Heidegger of Shinra!" Corneo stammered. "Heidegger, the head of Peace Preservation!"

"The head of Peace Preservation!?" Cloud said.

"Did you say the Shinra!? What are they up to!? Talk! If you don't tell us..." Tifa said, "... I'll smash it."

"WOW! You guys... are serious!?" Tidus exclaimed.

"... ohboy, ohboy, ohboy... I'm not fooling around here either, you know. Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel froup called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're really going to crush them... literally. By breaking the supports holding the plate above them."

"Break the supports!?" Tifa exclaimed, "Tidus! Call now!"

Tidus, who had already begun calling said, "the signal is not reaching! And I have all 3 bars. It's gotta be on Barret's side!"

"You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING and everything's gonna go BAMMM! I heard their hideout's in the Sector 7 Slums... I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6." Corneo said.

"They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 Slums!?" Tifa said, horrified. "Cloud, will you come with me to Sector 7?"

"Of course, Tifa," Cloud responded.

"Just a second!" Corneo interrupted as they were leaving.

"No wait, it'll only take a second. Why do you think scum like me babbled on about the truth?" Corneo asked.

"Becuase I'm sure I'll win?" Cloud answered.

"Woo-hoo! Right!" Corneo said as he flipped a switch. It was a trap door! They all fell down into the sewers.

Tidus paused time.

"Tidus, I'm so glad you paused time! I found out something. You can come back without completing the problem in each reality... come back to the spiral room that is. Just focus on it... come on you can do it!" The fayth said.

"I'm kinda in the middle of something..." Tidus said.

"You can come back later! Just try it... you can even take a break and go to a different reality for a while!" The fayth explained.

"How did you find this out? Nevermind I don't even want to know... I need a break anyways... alright, I'm focusing." Tidus said.

"You better come back soon... I'm not sure I like being suspended in mid-air." Cloud said.

Tidus vanished and time (even for Cloud)wouldn't resume until he returned.

Once Tidus was back in the spiral room, the spiral he came from turned red and stopped spinning. "Woah! It actually worked!" Tidus exclaimed.

* * *

 _Yeah... I think at this point I'm just going to stagger this chapter. I plan on doing the entirety of Final Fantasy 7. This will take a while, won't it? Hell if I care._

 _(1 week Later) Wow... still writing the same chapter huh... damn! Sorry about the long wait guys!_


End file.
